January 1st and 2nd - Liverpool maintained their thirteen point lead with a straight forward two-nil win at home to Sheffield United. Goals in either half from Salah and Mane secured the points and ensured the Reds have gone a full calendar year since defeat now. Leicester and Man City kept up their pursuit of the leaders with wins. Leicester won three-nil at Newcastle (who lost four players through injury during that game!) - Ayoze Perez was among the scorers against his old club. Gabriel Jesus scored twice as Man City beat Everton two-one at the Etihad.

Chelsea have a five point advantage in the race for fourth despite dropping points in a one-all draw at Brighton. Danny Ings continued his excellent scoring run as Southampton beat Tottenham one-nil. Worse news followed for Jose Mourinho and his side as Harry Kane will be out until March with a hamstring injury sustained in that game. Wolves slipped up again, losing two-one at a Watford side who've been revitalised since the arrival as Nigel Pearson as manager.

Arsenal picked up their first win under Mikel Arteta - goals from Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis saw them beat Man United two-nil at the Emirates. Elsewhere on New Years Day, the points were shared at Carrow Road as Norwich and Crystal Palace shared the points. West Ham were another side to benefit from a new manager bounce - they scored four without reply at home to Bournemouth as David Moyes returned to the hot seat in the London Stadium. Aston Villa climbed out of the relegation zone with a two-one win at Burnley - Wesley and Jack Grealish scored the goals in that one.

The first monthly leaderboard of 2020 sees Callum Dunne (December's winner) continue his good form. He leads on 49 points with League Cup winner Graham Goodwin and Wayne Donovan just two points back. Trevor Byrne and Damien Martin complete the top five so far. Full details below:

 


January 11th and 12th - Liverpool broke more records with their one-nil win at Tottenham. Roberto Firmino's goal gave them a one-nil win and made it 61 points from 63 for the season. That's a record across the top five leagues in Europe for the first 21 games of a season. Man City's six-one win at Aston Villa saw them move back into second place. That win was notable for a Sergio Aguero hat-trick which saw him overtake Thierry Henry as the leading overseas scorer in the Premier League era....

Leicester's title credentials were talked up after they won nine-nil at Southampton earlier this season. However, the result at the King Power Stadium was unexpected as Danny Ings scored the winner in a two-one victiry for Ralph Hassenhuttl's side. Ings' fourteenth goal of the season saw the Saints climb to twelfth in the table. A definite lesson in sticking with your manager in that result....

Nigel Pearson continued to perform his version of the great escape as his side won three-nil at Bournemouth. Doucoure, Deeney and Pereyra scored as the Hornets, fittingly, climbed out of the relegation zone on the anniversary of Graham Taylor's passing.

Chelsea are five points clear in the race for fourth place after a three-nil win at home to Burnley - goals from Jorginho, Abraham and Hudson Odoi sealed the points for Frank Lampard's side. Man United are their nearest challengers after a four-nil win at home to Norwich - Marcus Rashford scored twice in that one. The Canaries are in deep trouble now, eight points adrift from safety at the bottom of the table.

Elsewhere this weekend, Sheffield United beat West Ham one-nil to move into sixth place. Wolves and Newcastle shared the points after a one-all draw at Moulineaux - Dendoncker's opener for the hosts was equalised by Almiron for the visitors. Richarlison scored the only goal at Goodison Park as Everton beat Brighton. Pierre Emerick Aubamayang scored and was sent off as Arsenal drew one-all at Crystal Palace.

Wayne Donovan has moved into first place in the January competition. He has 100 points and leads Graham Goodwin by six points. Callum Dunne, Paul Moore and Trevor Byrne complete the top five - full details below:

 


January 18th and 19th - The nightmare scenario for fans of other clubs continued as Liverpool stretched their lead at the top to sixteen points with a game in hand. The Reds saw off the challenge of a dogged Man United at Anfield winning two-nil. Goals from Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah sealed another three points for Jurgen Klopp's side making it 91 points earned from the last 93 available in an unprecedented run.

Both challengers slipped up. A topsy turvey game at the Etihad ended in a two-all draw between Man City and Crystal Palace. Palace lead for a long time through Cenk Tosun's header just before half-time. Two goals from Sergio Aguero in the last ten minutes looked to have earned three points for the champions but a hammer blow was dealt by Wilfried Zaha as Fernandinho turned his cross into his own net in injury time. Leicester's challenge continued to falter too at Turf Moor. Harvey Barnes fired them into the lead at Burnley but second half goals from Chris Wood and Ashley Westwood were also cheered on Merseyside. Pepe Reina returned to the Premier League as Aston Villa picked up a point drawing one-all at Brighton.

Saturday's games saw four of the seven games end in draws. A late John Fleck goal earned Sheffield United a point at Arsenal - Gabriel Martinelli had opened the scoring for the hosts late in the first half. Troy Deeney missed a penalty but Watford still earned a point at home to Tottenham in a nil-all draw. The David Moyes derby finished all square at the London Stadium as West Ham and Everton and West Ham drew one-all. Dominic Calvert-Lewin kept up his prolific scoring streak to cancel out Issa Diop's opener.

Teemu Pukki scored the only goal in the relegation six-pointer at Carrow Road. His strike was enough to see off Bournemouth's challenge as Norwich picked up their first win in four months. Norwich are six points off safety after that win, just three points behind Eddie Howe's side. Isaac Hayden scored an injury time winner for Newcastle at home to Chelsea who remain five points clear in fourth spot.

Wayne Donovan holds an eleven point lead with eleven games to go in the monthly competition. Paul Prendergast picked up 52 points this weekend to move to second place. December's winner, Callum Dunne, is in third place with Trevor Byrne and Graham Goodwin completing the top five - full details below:

 





January 21st to 23rd - The midweek programme saw wins for the top three. Sergio Aguero came off the bench to score a winner for Man City at Sheffield United. Leicester put four past West Ham at the King Power Stadium. Ayoze Perez scored twice as Brendan Rodgers side won four-one to consolidate third place. Liverpool had one of their toughest games of the season but still emerged from Molineaux with the three points. Jordan Henderson headed the leaders into the lead early on but an equaliser from Raul Jiminez and an excellent second half performance had the hosts looking stronger heading into the final stages. However, Roberto Firmino popped up with a winner in the last five minutes to maintain Liverpool's sixteen point lead ahead of their game in hand at West Ham next Wednesday....

The relegation zone tightened up a bit following the midweek games. Callum and Harry Wilson were both on target as Bournemouth picked up a huge three points beating south coast rivals Brighton three-one at the Vitality Stadium. Tyrone Mings scored an injury time winner as Aston Villa beat Watford two-one. Norwich are six points adrift at the bottom after a two-one defeat at Tottenham - Heung Son-Min scored the winner in that one.

In the other games, Everton were two goals ahead of Newcastle heading into injury time and managed to hang on for a point as Florian Lejeune scored in the 93rd and 95th minutes!! The London Derby between Chelsea and Arsenal was an entertaining affair. Chelsea were ahead twice and David Luiz was sent off against his old side but Mikel Arteta's side managed to leave Stamford Bridge with a point thanks to Hector Bellerin's late goal. Man United lost again - Burnley won at Old Trafford for the first time since 1962 following goals from Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez. Dark times indeed for the Old Trafford faithful....

It's all to play for with just one game to go in January. Wayne Donovan retains first place but with just five points separating first from fourth the January prize is still up for grabs. Paul Prendergast, Callum Dunne and Trevor Byrne will all be paying close attention to Liverpool's visit to West Ham on Wednesday night! Full details below:

 




January 29th - The month ended with Liverpool winning two-nil at West Ham to open up a nineteen point lead at the top of the table. The Reds have 70 points from 72 and need just 8 wins from their last 14 games to be confirmed as champions for the first time since 1990. Goals from Mo Salah and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain either side of half-time were the difference at the London Stadium.

Callum Dunne picked up fourteen points to snatch a second consecutive monthly victory. A correct prediction of a two-nil win, a goal from Mo Salah and a clean sheet from Alisson enabled Callum to beat Paul Prendergast by just one point. Trevor Byrne finished third with Wayne Donovan and Graham Goodwin completing the top five. You can see the final standings for January below:


Premier League 2019-2020 - January Leaderboard
No.
 Lst Chg
Name
Team Name
Pts
Lst
Chg
Support the Site:
1
3
2
Callum Dunne
Seattle Sound Lads
174
160
14





2
2
0
Paul Prendergast
The Untouchables
173
161
12
3
4
1
Trevor Byrne
Noddys 11
170
158
12
4
1
-3
Wayne Donovan
Deprive The Five
165
163
2
5
5
0
Graham Goodwin
Pochettino's Parrot
163
151
12
6
6
0
Paul Moore
TAA LAA
159
145
14
7
10
3
Anastas Popov
Super Saints
154
140
14
8
7
-1
Philip Jordan
Frankie's Army
154
144
10
9
13
4
Craig Calvert
United Manchester FC
150
136
14
10
8
-2
Matthew Lynch
The Village Idiots
150
143
7
11
11
0
Andy Dunne
Matipswich Town
149
140
9
12
15
3
Brian Haughton
The Wexicans
149
135
14
13
9
-4
Dave McGinley
Reservoir Dubs
148
141
7
14
12
-2
Roisin Joyce
LCR FC
145
138
7
15
14
-1
Bobby Hynes
Born To Run
144
135
9
16
16
0
Ciaran O'Hart
Riverchapel Plate
140
133
7
17
18
1
Brian Mullen
Where's Tony Galvin Now?
139
129
10
18
17
-1
Gavin Morgan
Aimless Wanderers
139
130
9
19
25
6
Eamon Fox
It's Never Over, Never Really Over
135
123
12
20
19
-1
Gary McGurk
Origi In Madrid
135
128
7
21
20
-1
Gerry Moore
Unai Has The Pepe In His Step
135
128
7
22
23
1
Eoghan Farrelly
Last Chance Saloon
134
124
10
23
22
-1
Frank McSweeney
Poolabu
134
125
9
24
30
6
Jonathan Fox
Klopp Of The League
134
120
14
25
24
-1
Karl Boland
Boaty McBoatface FC
134
124
10
26
31
5
Liam Geraghty
What Shade of Blue?
134
120
14
27
21
-6
Phil Doyle
FC Muertos Errantes
133
126
7
28
26
-2
Richard Johnston
Ba Mhaith Liom Cupan Tae
130
123
7
29
29
0
Javier Suarez
Tika Taka
129
120
9
30
27
-3
Darragh Kenny
Luca Connell CSC
127
122
5
31
28
-3
Damien Martin
Rath Rovers
126
121
5
32
32
0
Liam Keohan
Irish Gunner
125
120
5
33
38
5
Ralph Goodwin
Gorey Celtic Stars
125
113
12
34
34
0
Joe Turner
The Joy of Six
124
115
9
35
33
-2
Joe Behan
Melchester Rovers
123
116
7
36
41
5
Aidan White
Return of the Villans
120
108
12
37
39
2
Gerry Draper
Everton10
119
110
9
38
35
-3
John Brophy
Carrig Combo
119
114
5
39
45
6
Mai-Ly Turner
Mo The Magnificent
119
105
14
40
36
-4
Micheal Joyce
At Last 2019
119
114
5
41
46
5
Brendan Maguire
Cantthinkofone
114
104
10
42
40
-2
Con McSweeney
Dowtcha Boys
114
109
5
43
47
4
David Cooney
Lifeafterhazard
114
104
10
44
37
-7
Aidan Scanlon
Kilflynn Santos
113
113
0
45
42
-3
Gerard McCluskey
Breffni Blues 2019
113
108
5
46
44
-2
Sean O'Mairtin
Creweless
113
106
7
47
48
1
Brian Prendergast
Magical Mustafi
112
102
10
48
50
2
Caroline Carroll
Mane 10
109
95
14
49
43
-6
Kris Stainton
Ole's Revolutionaries
107
107
0
50
52
2
Declan O'Neill
Athletico Spurs
102
92
10
51
49
-2
Gary Fitzpatrick
Sun's Out Gunn's Out
102
97
5
52
54
2
Simon Scanlon
Taking It Serious This Year
100
88
12
53
51
-2
Victoria Reid
Tristan's Titans
100
95
5
54
53
-1
Kevin Philpott
Kevlaar
98
91
7
55
55
0
Niall Carroll
Dejan 6
88
81
7
56
56
0
Gary Donnelly
Storm A Brewstering….
78
71
7
57
57
0
Barry McGoldrick
The Blarney Pilgrims
59
55
4
58
58
0
Anthony Michaels
Offside Ref
14
10
4
59
59
0
Chris Keohan
Moves Like Agger
14
10
4
60
60
0
Aiden Desch
NumNuts
0
0
0